News:Voice of Conscience Jim Weaver speaks out on war, elections,
the environment, and 'two kinds of people.' News:Two Kinds of People Jim Weaver's book on the
psychology of hawks and doves in the Vietnam War.News:People vs. Powers That Be Seven young activists fight the law.

STILL
UP THERE Traveler's not traveling much these days.
The 30-something homeless activist has been perched more than 40 feet
high in the branches of a large incense cedar at the downtown Saturday
Market plaza since Oct. 12. And he says he won't come down until the
city of Eugene lifts its ban against homeless camping within the city
limits. Last Friday the city responded by erecting a 6-foot tall chain
link fence around Traveler's tree.

TRAVELER
HAS BEEN PERCHED 40 FEET ABOVE DOWNTOWN EUGENE IN A TREESIT SINCE
OCT. 12.

According to Pam Olshansky, public information director
for the Eugene Police Department, the fence is to protect passers-by
from being hit by falling objects and to prevent Traveler's protest
from disrupting the operations of the downtown market. Olshansky says
that anyone who crosses the fence to bring food or other supplies
to Traveler will be cited for "aiding and abetting someone who's committing
a crime in the park." Police have already issued two citations.

The no-protestor zone doesn't sit well with everyone.
Early Tuesday morning, Melissa Mona, a member of the city's Human
Rights Commission, crawled under the fence and sent a basket filled
with homemade cookies, coffee, cigarettes, fruit and books up to Traveler.
She calls the city's treatment of the tree-sitter "a violation of
human rights and common sense." And it's long past time, she says,
to confront the issue of homelessness in Eugene head-on.

The city's ban on homeless camping is "draconian,
it's disingenuous and it's shameful," she says. "I'm absolutely embarrassed
to be living in a city that claims it's progressive and see this sort
of oppression of the most vulnerable members of the community."

Olshansky says that politics has nothing to do with
it. "It's not a homeless issue to the police, it's a criminal issue."

"You can't separate the two when you live in a city
which criminalizes the homeless," countered Mona.

Even though there were police officers on the scene
Tuesday morning, they took no action to prevent Mona from delivering
supplies up the tree. But
they made it clear that the Human Rights Com-mission member isn't
immune from the law.

"She will very likely be issued a citation," said
Olshansky.
—James Johnston

SLANT

Springfield city staff is reportedly
mulling over PeaceHealth's pre-application paperwork this week
for the big hospital project. Among the documents is the new
Traffic Impact Analysis and we hear it shows that the Pioneer
Parkway/Highway 126 intersection will need some upgrading. Surprise!
Last we heard, Springfield doesn't have any road maintenance
money and TransPlan is maxed out with the West Eugene Parkway.
Will PeaceHealth have to come up with the extra bucks? Expect
the price of a hospital enema to go up soon.

Has Sen. Gordon Smith really had a change
of heart and become a sweet, liberal guy as shown in his
TV ads? Or is it just clever political strategy? You'd never
know Smith was a progressive from his voting record on the environment
and social issues. Another clue comes from his two-faced campaigning.
We hear he slips back into his old right-wing self when he rallies
supporters in southern Oregon.

We can hear the arguments now. The Eugene
City Council has no business taking stands on national issues
that are outside our jurisdiction or sphere of influence. That's
not our mission, that's not what the voters put us here to do,
yadda yadda. But the USA Patriot Act does have an impact on
the citizens of Eugene. The federal government's new powers
to crack down on immigrants and set up vast domestic spy networks
certainly affects our local freedoms. Eugene, with its university
and boisterous political activists, is a juicy target for right-wing
zealots who feel threatened by dissent. We encourage the city
councils of Eugene and Springfield and the County Board of Commissioners
to pass resolutions opposing the Patriot Act.

SLANT
includes short opinion pieces and rumor-chasing notes compiled
by the EW staff. Heard any good rumors lately? Contact Ted Taylor
at 484-0519, editor@eugeneweekly.com

BALI
DISASTER RELIEFBombs exploded in a popular night-club district
on the island of Bali Oct. 12, killing an estimated 180 people, and
Eugene area residents who sense a connection to the Balinese people
now have a way to help.

For local information on how to get involved, contact
Marge Templeton of Eugene at arian@efn.org or call 485-8725.

Templeton received a letter from Bali resident William
Ingram, author of A Little Bit OneO'Clock, saying "Our
Balinese friends are shocked and confused. They are angry but, as
Nyoman Suradnya said to the community during Wednesday night's purificatory
prayers at Ubud's Temple to Shiva, 'We must reflect on our karma and
ask forgiveness for whatever ways we have contributed to the violence.'
This is different from apportioning blame, either upon oneself or
anyone else. It refreshes me and fills me with hope to be with people
whose spirit is large enough to take responsibility in such a mature
way. …

"Anyone who has been here knows that their Balinese
friends all exemplify an astounding faith in life and openness of
heart. This island is now being challenged to manifest this as a communal
stance. … They are in the true front line of the war on terrorism
and will show us the way, for they know, as one village priest told
me, that 'the bomb we must stop is the one in our own minds.'"

ACTION
AGENDAThe upcoming election and the threat of
war against Iraq are inspiring a series of rallies, meetings and speeches
in Eugene this week.

ĞLocal Resistance to the USA Patriot Act (see story
last week) is growing and speakers have been announced for the town
hall meeting at 7 pm Thursday, Oct. 24 at PLC Hall at East 14th and
Kincaid on campus. Speakers include immigration attorney Teuta Norman,
civil rights attorney Lauren Regan, activist Mary Paladino and free
speech attorney Brian Michaels. For more information, contact hmarston@epud.net

ĞA "No War On Iraq" national day of action will be
observed in Eugene at 10:30 am Saturday, Oct. 26 at the Federal Building
at 7th and Pearl. The rally will be in conjunction with marches in
San Francisco and Washington, D.C. and speakers will include Senate
candidate Bill Bradbury, Alan Siporin, Debbie Pitney and others to
be announced. Music and action activities by various peace groups
will also be featured in this event sponsored by Eugene PeaceWorks,
Oregon PeaceWorks and CALC. For information, contact CALC at 484-1755,
or e-mail opw@oregonpeaceworks.org

Former President Bill Clinton will join Sen. Ron Wyden,
governor candidate Ted Kulongoski, singer Art Alexakis and saxophonist
Paul Biondi at a fund-raising rally for Bill Bradbury starting at
noon Thursday, Oct. 31 at Mac Court on campus. General admission is
$25 or $15 for students. Children under 12 are free. Call the UO tickets
office at 346-4363 or Fastixx at (800) 992-8499.

A
NEW UUA newly organized liberal religious community,
the Springfield Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, held its first
public meeting Oct. 6. Regular meetings will be held at 4 pm Sundays
in the Springfield American Legion Hall at 8th and C.

The main speaker Oct. 6 was Jim Weldy who opened the
meeting with the topic "Intentionality in Our New Fellowship."

AUTUMN
LEAVESEugene's leaf program begins Oct. 28 this
year. Originally implemented in the late 1960s as a leaf collection
program to prevent street flooding, the program now delivers and recycles
leaves as well.

The program recycles leaves by delivering them to
residents, community gardens, community groups such as FOOD for Lane
County, and commercial recyclers who use them as mulch or compost.
Nearly 4,000 tons of leaves are recycled every year through this effort.

Throughout the evening, Nearby Nature guides will
lead special night hikes in the nearby woods along pumpkin-lit paths.
On each hike, folks will encounter a variety of furry and feathered
night creatures in costume.

Haunted Hike is free to Nearby Nature members and
$5 per person for non-members. Groups are welcome. Pre-registration
is required, so call 687-9699 to reserve a space. Each hike lasts
at least 45 minutes. Bring a flashlight, hiking shoes, and raingear
if it's a dark and stormy night.

HARRIS
GETS EXHIBITEugene sculptor Jerry Harris has been selected
by an international jury to exhibit his work at the fourth bi-annual
2003 Biennale Internazionale Dell' Arte Contemporanea in Florence,
Italy. The show will be in December 2003.

Harris, an African-American artist and columnist for
EW and other publications, moved to Eugene two years ago after
spending most of his career in Stockholm, where he is a member of
the Swedish Sculptor's Society. Harris has exhibited both nationally
and internationally. His first one-man show in Oregon will be at the
Jacobs Gallery at the Hult Center in 2004.

CORRECTIONS/CLARIFICATIONSIn the K.C. Joyce art exhibition story last
week, we forgot to mention that La Follette's Gallery has long been
known for its hand-made, hardwood frames. Thanks to a generous public,
the first show sold out. Joyce will have additional prints and paintings
for sale at the artist's reception from 5:30 to 8:30 pm Oct. 25 at
the gallery.

Voice
of ConscienceJim
Weaver speaks out on war, elections, the environment, and 'two kinds
of people.'Story
and photo by Ted Taylor

Jim Weaver's influence on national and Northwest
politics today is difficult to gauge, but anyone who tries is likely
to fall short. As our outspoken and often cantankerous 4th District
congressman from 1974 to 1987, Weaver rocked the establishment with
his loud, intense and eloquent advocacy for wilderness preservation,
his attacks on the nuclear power industry, his stand against the Vietnam
War and wasteful military spending, and his objections to herbicide
and pesticide proliferation.

He gathered around him a dream team of staffers and
volunteers who have gone on to positions of power, influence and activism.
They include Peter DeFazio, Peter Sorenson, Cynthia Wooten, Ron Eachus,
Joe Rutledge, Dan Meeks, David Fidanque, Mardel Chinburg, Greg Skillman,
Grattan Kerans, Clayton Klein, Gayle Landt, Bern Johnson and many
others.

Weaver's making fewer headlines these days, preferring
a reclusive life of reading and writing at his rural home near Buford
Park and Mount Pisgah. He and his second wife, Katie, live in a solid,
modest house he built 32 years ago when he was in the construction
business. He grows tomatoes and keeps a flock of friendly mixed-breed
chickens. Still trim and fit at 75, he says he "leads the straight
and narrow life," runs a 3-mile circuit on country backroads and climbs
Pisgah every week.

Is he quietly fading into history? Not likely. He
keeps popping back into public view. Weaver ran for mayor of Eugene
in 1996, tested the waters for a District 40 legislative race in 2000
and declined a Green Party draft for the governor race this year.
But his greatest future contribution may be with a book he has written
that could change the way we look at war and peace, intolerance, invention
and the environment (see accompanying story).

On
Bush's Rush to WarWeaver is fascinated by America's
perpetual division of "hawks" and "doves" and figures we're in big
trouble with another hawkish Bush at the helm.

"Doves are powerless against hawks. They can beat
the shit out of us anytime. George Bush can right now," he says. "The
only chance we've got is voting, because we've got the numbers."

"Twenty years ago I said in many speeches and writings
that we're going to come to the end of the era soon — I thought
it would have happened earlier than this — and when that happens,
when our political institutions are under enormous pressure, a Roosevelt
is not going to get elected — we're going to get a fascist.
Now whether that's Bush, or somebody coming after him, I don't know.
He could be just a precursor."

Weaver's pleased with Rep. DeFazio's strong public
stand against Bush's rush to war. "Whether I had any influence on
him, I don't know. I like to think maybe because he's following in
my path, he takes some courage from what I did."

But while Weaver is a dove, he is no pacifist. He
enlisted at the age of 17 and served in World War II on an aircraft
carrier in the Pacific, and he supported Truman sending troops into
Korea in 1950. "But I opposed any involvement in Vietnam from the
start," he says. He spoke out against the war both in Congress and
on the streets in Eugene.

On
Ethics and Elections"I've been outraged by lying," Weaver
says. "People lie! George Bush in his speech yesterday — a dozen
lies in a five-minute speech. I used to have witnesses before my committee
— that's how I got a reputation of being abusive and abrasive
— and these would be cabinet secretaries and presidents of corporations
who would sit there and lie, and I wouldn't let them get away with
it.

"Republicans have to lie, and I mean this very seriously.
They couldn't possibly get elected otherwise. Have you seen Gordon
Smith's commercials? Did you know he was an ultra-liberal? That pisses
me off."

On his own low-key, low-budget run for the Eugene
mayor's race against the well-financed Jim Torrey in 1996, Weaver
says, "I misread the public entirely. I thought they were ready for
change, for reform, for slow growth or no growth. … Why on earth
do you want more people to come in? It does make some real estate
developers rich, but the rest of us have to pay higher taxes, pollution,
congestion, etc. It's crazy, but it's deep in the culture of this
country ..."

On
the Environment"Jim's accomplishments are legendary
in the progressive folklore of Oregon," says Lane County Commissioner
Pete Sorenson who worked on Weaver's staff from 1974 to 1977, and
is still a big fan.

Weaver, known for his expertise on energy policy,
made headlines in his successful battles to stop the proliferation
of nuclear power plants in the Northwest, strategically using economic
arguments while other activists were touting safety and environmental
concerns. Others have followed Weaver's example and today economic
issues, such as calculating the true cost of sprawl, are often used
to draw broader support for environmental concerns.

"I've been outraged by what I see around me, ever
since I was a kid. I was an environmentalist back in the 1940s as
an 18-year-old. I hated cars, spewing their poisons, and I didn't
own a car until I was 30 and had to get one for a job I had."

Weaver sponsored and pushed through Congress more
than a dozen bills, many of them dealing with environmental protections,
such as the National Forest Management Act, the Federal Land Policy
Management Act, National Organic Agriculture Act, and expansions of
wild and scenic river areas and wilderness designations. He is credited
with legislation protecting more than a million acres of Oregon wilderness.

"Weaver was ahead of his time on a lot of issues,"
says DeFazio, "certainly on the issue of the Washington Public Power
Supply System, Bonneville Power System, and the need to better provide
for salmon in the hydro system. All the things he worked on and fought
for in the Northwest Power Act we're still fighting for. Jim staked
out the direction 20 years ago."

"Jim is like many geniuses. He saw things, and still
sees things very clearly," says Dave Fidanque, Oregon director of
the ACLU, and another ex-Weaver staffer. "He was not always right.
He was always convinced (even 20 years ago) that the economy was going
to come crashing down. His timing was a little off. … America's
dependence on foreign oil was one of the things Jim always hammered
at, and goodness knows, it's more of a problem today than it was in
the late '70s and early '80s and nobody's doing anything about it."

On
Money in Politics"I've always been strongly opposed
to money in politics," Weaver says. "I find it offensive, immoral,
corrupt. I kept the spending I did to the absolute minimum. I was
in 16 hotly contested congressional races and spent in all 16 less
than Ron Wyden spent in one uncontested election for Congress. I have
accepted no honorariums, no gifts, no trips, no dinners, absolutely
nothing. I've been to some receptions and I'd eat the shrimp, but
no lobbyist could ever take me out. … And I've always been opposed
to gambling, even Indian casinos."

Joe Rutledge, another former staffer and now a nationally
known marketing and communications strategist living in Connecticut,
says, "I doubt that most Oregonians have any real knowledge of how
effectively Jim used his intellect, street smarts and political sense
to get things done for the average citizen, despite the combined opposition
of most other Northwest officeholders and staff members who viewed
their primary constituents as PGE, PP&L, the timber guys, and
a handful of other interests,"

"Jim played many important roles in Congress," says
Mardel Chinburg of Eugene, another former staffer, "but significant
was his role as a voice of conscience — he tirelessly and passionately
advocated progressive legislation without sacrificing issues or his
philosophy in order to get bills passed."

Two
Kinds of PeopleWeaver's book, Two Kinds: The
Genetic Origin of Conservatives and Liberals, was inspired by
his attempts to understand the psychology of hawks and doves in the
Vietnam War. His degree from UO is in political science, but he's
spent a lifetime studying evolution and the behavioral sciences.

"If I hadn't gone into politics, I would probably
have had a doctorate in what would have amounted to evolutionary psychology,"
he says. "I developed a theory on how natural selection creates two
kinds of people. It can't be culture, it can't be upbringing, it can't
be education. I know some trauma, such as child abuse, can have an
effect on a person's life, but there has to be something else."

His theory is that all people are genetically inclined
to become either hawks or doves — conservatives or liberals,
ethnocentrics or empathics, Republicans or Democrats — and it's
a matter of random selection rather than hereditary. Identical twins
are invariably similar in their politics and attitudes, but other
siblings are often opposites.

"You see this in all walks of life," he says. "The
doves are the thinkers — it's what nature did 50,000 years ago,
created the thinkers. The doves invent things, but once they get things
going, the hawks take over. The doves started Apple Computers and
the labor unions, and once they got power they were taken over by
the hawks. Hawks take over and perform a very valuable function, build
it, sell it, etc. People who read my book say I denigrate hawks, but
not really. I don't like them, but they perform an extremely important
function. If the Chinese army starts coming down I-5, I'm going to
head to wherever the hawks are to defend me."

Weaver supports his theory with numerous national
and international surveys; published academic research in psychology,
sociology and anthropology; and even classical literature.

"Doves have, to one degree or another, the power of
abstraction and a heightened sense of imagination. The mind of a hawk
tends to be egocentric and ethnocentric and less imaginative," he
writes in his book. "I do not mean to imply that doves are more intelligent
than hawks. Both are capable of reasoning. They simply view things
differently."

Doves are revolutionaries, he writes, standing up
against tyranny, but "Hawks want power, and they have the innate aggressive
urges that help them achieve power. Sensitive, empathic doves are
less likely to fight their way into positions of power. People in
positions of authority are thus far more likely to be unempathic,
ethnocrentric hawks. …

"Polls taken throughout the Vietnam war showed that
the American people were roughly divided between hawks and doves,
with a slight bias to the hawks. ... The extreme hawks and doves were
each exactly 25 percent of the population, and their minds never changed."

Weaver goes on in his book to describe the many variations
and combinations that make up the middle 50 percent of the population,
including "stinging doves" who will fight back fiercely if attacked,
and "chicken hawks" who will back down if their attacks are challenged.

He says his theory explains a lot about human nature,
such as why tyrants can always find murderers and torturers to do
their dirty work, why some people naturally support the environment
and social services, why liberals are always squabbling among themselves,
and even why some people succeed in business.

His book is available in limited numbers through local
book stores, but has not yet been picked up by a major publishing
house. He says publishers are wary of his book because it contains
unconventional theories, and he has no academic credentials in human
behavior sciences.

"I wanted to come back to Oregon and write my book
and then I thought I'd spend the rest of my days lecturing in colleges
about my book. It never occurred to me that nobody would publish it.
–TJT

People
vs. Powers That BeSeven
young activists fight the law.BY
BOBBIE WILLIS

"They think they're making an exampleof us,
and we're thinking, 'It doesn't matter,'" says activist and recent
Eugene transplant Shauna Farabaugh of her prosecution for a trial
in Washington, D.C.. Farabaugh and six other activists defended themselves
pro se (acting as their own legal representation) against charges
of obstructing and impeding passage on Capitol grounds.

The charges were filed as a result of the activists'
involvement in a protest against Plan Colombia, a $1.3 billion foreign
aid package signed in July 2000, the bulk of which goes toward military
aid and training.

SHAUNA
FARABAUGH

In April of this year, Farabaugh joined 3,000 people
who staged an early morning march from the Washington Monument to
the Capitol building in protest of Plan Colombia. Upon arriving at
the Capitol building, Farabaugh was part of two smaller groups that
broke off from the march to line the building entrances. Thirty-seven
people from these smaller groups were arrested for obstructing entrances
on Capitol grounds, thereby interfering with the orderly processes
of Congress.

"Of the 37 people arrested," says Farabaugh, "30 were
'no papered …,'" meaning no record of their arrests were kept
on file. The DA chose to prosecute the remaining seven activists,
including Farabaugh, Becky Johnson, Kate Berrigan, Sarah Saunders,
Jackie Downing, Anna Hendricks and Riley Merline. The seven co-defendants,
all under 25 years of age and from different parts of the country,
chose to defend themselves.

In an article for The Nonviolent Activist (Sept./Oct.
2002), Farabaugh's co-activist/defendant Kate Berrigan writes, "In
preparing for our trial, we chose roles to show off our strengths.
Becky Johnson, who is more well-versed in legalese than the rest of
us, argued most of our pretrial motions; Riley Merline, who gave our
opening statement, was a calm and peaceful presence to introduce us
to the jury. During the prosecution's case, I tried to look righteous
in cross-examining the police who testified. Our case rested on Anna
Hendricks, who had been to Colombia … testifying about what
she had seen there; Sarah Saunders, who had also been to Colombia,
direct-examined Anna to elicit the best testimony. Shauna Farabaugh,
sincere and convincing, gave the all-important closing statement;
Jackie Downing, who thinks well on her feet, argued our proposals
for jury instructions…"

By their July trial, the seven activists were prepared
to convince the jury that they had only been exercising their First
Amendment rights and that the brief time they had stood at the Capitol
entrances before they were arrested — 10 minutes according to
Farabaugh — could not be construed as long enough for obstructing
or impeding any processes of Congress. They also hoped to show that
Plan Colombia, not the minor charges brought against them, was what
deserved true thought and deliberation.

The defendants had counted on the trial lasting about
three days. However, it ended up lasting twice that long, with the
jury deliberating for almost three days alone to come to a verdict.

Judge Henry Greene, presiding over the trial, called
Farabaugh's following closing argument one of the best he had heard
in years:

"Members of the jury, the prosecution has said that
this case is not about government policy or the right to criticize
the government. … Yet this is a hollow statement, easily said,
much more challenging to embody. ... When you look at the government's
photographs [of the protest] in the jury room, you will see people,
puppets and signs. Peaceful, singing people exercising their democracy.
The same government that today prosecutes the defendants before you,
persecutes the people of Colombia daily. That persecution is what
we are trying to prevent. We are on trial today for what some
call a 'crime,' but our goal is to shed light on the great crimes
of Plan Colombia — the crimes of our government, crimes for
which all of us bear some responsibility. Unfortunately, Plan Colombia
is not on trial today, though it most certainly should be."

The jury came back deadlocked, with 10 members voting
to convict and two voting to acquit. Farabaugh and her co-defendants
had planned until just recently to defend themselves again in an Oct.
28 appeal. However, they just received word that the prosecution has
dropped the charges and is no longer pursuing the case. "I'm just
reeling," Farabaugh says. "But in the good way."

Charlotte
NisserUO senior Charlotte Nisser estimates
that she devotes at least 40 hours per week to her "half-time" job
as general manager of 24-hour campus radio station KWVA. "It's a demanding
job," she admits. "I'm on call at all times." A Eugenean since age
3, Nisser served a six-week internship with KEZI TV for a senior project
at Willamette High School, where she was the first to earn a Certificate
of Advanced Mastery. She started out as a news reporter at KWVA in
the fall of '99, her first term on campus, moved up to news director
a year later, and acceded to the GM position in the summer of 2001,
following a spring term of study in France. A dancer with the UO Marching
Band's dance team for her first three years, Nisser reluctantly dropped
out this fall, though she still coaches the Thurston High dance team
two days a week. She also works eight to 10 hours a week at the UO
Law School, in addition to carrying a full load of course work. "I
want to be politically involved, and I want to be a journalist," says
Nisser, who will graduate next spring with majors in journalism and
international studies, minors in French and political science. "It's
a good set up for whatever I decide to do."